We were lucky to catch up with Chanda Hopkins recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chanda, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I was raised by my mom and stepfather to be a creative. My father was a professional singer and I inherited his voice and love of singing. My stepfather was a musician and I grew up in a house full of music, with a drum set and a plethora of instruments in the living room. My uncles and grandmother on my Moms side were all hobby artists and could all draw anything or anyone realistically. I inherited some of their skills but no one ever talked about art as a career path for me. It was just always assumed that I would be a singer or actress, as I also had a love of the stage and a knack for memorizing entire scripts. With my future decided early, I was left to dabble in other forms of art expression, such as fashion design, and sewing. Sketching fashion designs fulfilled my love of drawing and when I was ten year old my mom gave me a sewing machine and I discovered my love of sewing. I never really thought it was an option for me as a career, not because I couldn’t do it, but because I didn’t know anyone else who was doing it. I didn’t realize all the options available for work as an artist.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am an artist and under that umbrella I do several things. I am a visual artist who paints and creates collages. My work has been sold to collectors from all around the world. I’ve shown in art galleries in solo and group shows in NYC and also at Art Basel in Miami. I am a photographer. I do portrait photography and then collage those portraits with my paintings. I am a fashion designer and textile artist. I use my art as the textile design on fabrics and I also design and sew, original one of a kind garments that are works of art. On the more commercial side of my business, I have a collaboration with the Shein Designer X Program and have put out two collections that feature my paintings as the design on the fabrics. I also sell my artwork on a variety of products like journals, duvets and other items that need surface design. I showed my first handmade collection of clothing at Austin Fashion Week Fall 2022. I am beyond grateful that I get to use my artistic talents and skills to make a living. It’s not always been an easy road, but it has been an extremely satisfying one. I have always made my living doing something creative. I started out as a professional hairstylist and makeup artist with a celebrity clientele, and from there fell into doing art full time. I left my hair and makeup job after getting burned out and was making collages to soothe my nerves. I was dead broke and needed some money. My roommate suggested that I sell “those things you make”. I hadn’t considered that anyone would want them, but desperation led me to try. So I set up on the outside of a fair that was going on at the boardwalk in Staten Island. I was scared to death. Back then artist markets, outdoor fairs and farmers markets were barely a thing, so I wasn’t sure if anyone would buy or if I would be run off of the boardwalk. I am glad I took a chance, because it changed the trajectory of my life. I sold seven pieces that day and was called an artist all day. I LOVED it! I was shocked that people kept calling me an artist, since I thought real artists had to paint like the masters, yet here were complete strangers loving what I had made and buying it! I went home elated. I had made money and had a new direction in life. The customers had told me that I needed to sell my art in the city, so the next day I went to Times Square to sell. I sold four pieces there and some people suggested that I sell in Astor Place since it had a large college crowd. I was selling brightly colored, beaded collages with icons like Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix and with scenes from movies. I went to Astor Place and while there several people told me I needed to go to SoHo and that SoHo where the “real artists” were. I was shocked and flattered that they kept putting me in the category with “real artists”, but that next day I decided to try it there. I was shocked when I went to SoHo. The streets were filled with hundreds of artists who had set up booths with their art. I was thrilled! I had never seen anything like that before in my life! I started selling there every weekend and from the connections I made there, I started getting asked to be part of duo exhibits and group shows and eventually started having solo exhibits. Often people would see my abstract paintings and patterns and say that they wished they could have a dress or top made out of it, but back then, print on demand and other sites that make that possible were not out yet, so I had no way of fulfilling those requests. I continued to sell my art but would also do photo shoots with actors and models to make extra money. People started to notice and I eventually started having my work published in magazines. I was named a Top Emerging Photographer by Black Book, one year, which was a huge honor for me, especially since I was self taught. So ,some people knew me for my visual art and others knew me as a photographer. I consider it all my art, since I put my heart and life’s story into all that I create. I thought I was pretty much settled into just being an artist and photographer, but a couple of years ago I saw an ad by Shein, looking for fashion designers and since I had always been told my art would make beautiful clothing, I decided to put together a portfolio and submit it. I had been making custom pieces to use on my photo shoots and by this time print on demand and photo mockups were available, so I added my art to some clothing silhouettes and applied on a whim. I heard back from Shein within a few days and thus officially began my career in fashion. Several pieces in that collection sold out within the first few weeks. The rest sold throughout the year and my second collection with Shein came out earlier this year. I love seeing people wear clothes that I designed using my art. The feeling I get from seeing other people happy with something that I have created, feeds my soul. It’s the same joy I get, when a person buys a painting or collage or when I see that look they get in their eyes, when they see a picture of themselves that I have taken. It’s all joy. Their joy brings me joy and I put that joy right back into the things I create. I truly feel like I am doing what I was created to do. Being an artist is not just a profession for me, it’s who I am and since it’s who I am, I foresee myself living as an artist for the rest of my life.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve had many times in my life when I have had to pivot, but a major one that comes to mind was a few years back, when I started experiencing some health problems and could not physically go out and sell my art the way I had been doing for years. I could do shows occasionally, but not like I wanted to or needed to . I couldn’t do very much, other than rest. I also had to leave my beloved NYC. I had to figure out another way to keep my art “out there” so I turned to the internet and started digitally creating art , using my watercolors and paintings as a base for new work. I fell in love with what technology could do with my art. Back then, it was a new medium, so I experimented with turning abstracts into patterns and patterns into clothing that could be sold online through print on demand sites like Redbubble. At the time, the change was uncomfortable, since I was accustomed to selling original artwork, but I am so glad I pivoted. Some of the prints that I submitted to Shein were created from those new digital collages. Some of the things I created years ago are bringing me money today. Had I not pivoted and tried a new way of doing things, I would not have the income that those old paintings are bringing me today, so I say to anyone who finds themselves in a challenging position, to just hold on. The full story is not over yet. Do what you can do and let God do the rest. I am so glad I learned how to surrender and trust that things would work out, because looking back now, I can see that had I not gone through those times, had I not pivoted and started experimenting with technology, I would not have had the images to submit for later work, images that are still bringing me income today! My skills would not have been honed, sharpened and ready for this chapter in my life. All the things I went through were building blocks that have stacked together to build this house for my soul, my artistic life.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
To best support artists, society needs to have more initiatives that address the housing insecurities that many artists face. I have heard too many stories of homelessness and of artists losing their spaces to create. I too have lived through some of these challenges as well. These kinds of traumatic events set artists back and affect their output. Knowing you have a stable home and place to create, whether that be in a studio or at home , frees up the artist to dive deeper into what they are creating and thus provides the opportunity for a deeper conversation via the art that is created. I always look back on those times in NYC history when artists were given the opportunity to move in and fix up abandoned loft spaces in SoHo. They created such amazing spaces and artwork during those times. With all the empty office buildings languishing on the market, I think it’s important to look back at what those artists created and figure out how we can emulate that in the future. SoHo in NYC would not be what it is today had the artists not moved in, with galleries following and then people from around the world following to buy the art. Collectors and investors saw what artists created and how amazing the studios were and started buying properties there for themselves. Then the big corporations moved in, but all that growth started with giving artists free and cheap places to live and create.Where the artists go, growth and commerce follows. There’s a program in NYC called Chasama that pairs artists with real estate spaces that have been long vacant. The artist gets space to create, with wide open windows for people passing by to watch them while they work. It drives interest up, not only the artist and their work, but also the property gets renewed interest and usually, new tenants. It’s a win, win for all. The artist gets a free or extremely cheap place in a prime location to create. It saves them money and energy so that they can focus on creating amazing art. The public gets to see the process of art being made and they have the opportunity to develop relationships with local artists as well as patronize their work and the landlords get new tenants for a space that was being ignored, vacant and basically wasted. I think this is a model that can be used to revitalize old malls, shopping centers, strip malls, offices, downtown and main streets in small towns. Having artists in these spaces helps the artists but also has been proven to revitalize the area. I think more programs like this will create an environment where artists thrive and communities thrive through the beautification that artists bring.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chandahopkinsartistry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chandahopkinsartist/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandahopkinsartistry/
Image Credits
Chanda Hopkins